Taking the 5th
Michael Flynn refuses to comply with a Senate subpoena seeking records of his dealings with Russia.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, refused Monday to comply with a Senate subpoena seeking records of his dealings with Russia, invoking his constitutional protection against self-incrimination.
Lawyers for the former three-star Army general said he would not cooperate with the Senate Intelligence Committee inquiry because the “escalating public frenzy against him” and the Justice Department’s recent appointment of a special counsel put him at legal risk if he turned over the documents.
Flynn, who was forced to resign from the White House in February, is a key figure in the growing political scandal. The FBI is investigating whether members of the Trump campaign cooperated with Russian intelligence agencies during or after the 2016 race.
The subpoena “seeks to compel Gen. Flynn to offer testimony through the act of producing documents that may or may not exist,” his lawyer, Robert Kelner, and two other attorneys wrote in a letter to the Senate committee.
Under the circumstances, they wrote, “Gen. Flynn is entitled to, and does, invoke his 5th Amendment privilege against production of documents.”
The Senate Intelligence Committee subpoena sought records of all of Flynn’s meetings with Russian officials, and any communications he had with the Trump campaign about Russia going back to 2015.
The committee said it would continue to try to obtain the documents.
In a statement, Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.), the committee chairman, and Sen. Mark R. Warner (DVa.), the top Democrat, said they were “disappointed he has chosen to disregard the committee’s subpoena request for documents relevant and necessary to our investigation.”
The lawmakers added: “We will vigorously pursue Gen. Flynn’s testimony and his production of any and all pertinent materials pursuant to the committee’s authorities.”
Flynn’s lawyers said they would fight to protect the records.
Flynn “has more than a reasonable apprehension that any testimony he provides could be used against him,” they wrote.
“Multiple members of Congress have demanded that he be investigated and even prosecuted. He is the target on a nearly daily basis of outrageous allegations.”
The Senate panel last month turned down a request from Flynn’s lawyers that he be given immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony. His lawyers said Flynn would testify “should the circumstances permit.”
Adding to his woes, a Democratic lawmaker said Monday that Flynn may have lied to federal investigators when he told the Pentagon during a security review that he was paid $33,750 by a U.S. company for making a speech in Moscow in December 2015, shortly before he began advising Trump’s presidential campaign.
“Gen. Flynn told security clearance investigators that he was paid by ‘U.S. companies’ when he traveled to Moscow in December 2015 to dine at a gala with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Investigations Committee, said in a statement.
“The actual source of the funds for Gen. Flynn’s trip was not a U.S. company, but the Russian media propaganda arm, RT,” he added, referring to the governmentrun TV network.
Trump ordered Flynn to resign three weeks into the new administration after news reports disclosed that he had lied to White House colleagues, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
The day after firing Flynn, Trump met with then-FBI Director James B. Comey and asked him to halt the bureau’s investigation of Flynn, the New York Times has reported.
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Trump told Comey, according to the report. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
In addition to the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, Flynn is under scrutiny by three other congressional committees, the Pentagon inspector general and the FBI.
A grand jury in Virginia has issued subpoenas for documents, reportedly about his business dealings with Turkey and Russia before he entered the White House.
Flynn has denied any wrongdoing.